What Should Have Been
by Harmony909
Summary: It wasn't fair. It shouldn't have happened; they should have stayed. If only he was stronger... But he wasn't, and now they were gone. Super!Naruto-ish... slightly Angsty.


**What Should Have Been**

**Description: ****It wasn't fair. It shouldn't have happened; they should have stayed. If only … If only he'd been stronger, then perhaps he would still have his friends.**

**A.N.:**

**Hi! Here's a oneshot I decided to write from (yet another) of the crazy story ideas in my head that don't go away. It's slightly angsty, just a warning. I hope you like it. I wrote it with a slightly depressing mood in mind.

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**

Normal/Narration

'Thinking'

"Talking"

_Flashback

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_

Naruto ran out the door, about to be late for meeting his team. Kakashi was probably almost there, even! He slurped up his breakfast, hastily tied on his hitaite, and ran out of his apartment, not even bothering to lock the door. He began to sprint across Konoha.

'Come on… Just a few more steps…' thought the blonde, seeing his destination. He suddenly fell on a rock.

* * *

_A younger Naruto was running to meet his team for the first time. He suddenly fell on a rock, scraping his knee. He started to get up when he saw an outstretched hand in front of him. He followed the hand and looked into dark golden eyes. He smiled widely; he knew only one person with those eyes._

"_Naruto-kun, need a hand?"_

_Naruto gratefully grasped the hand._

"_Arigato, Megami-chan!"_

"_No problem, Naruto-kun. Let's go!"_

_The two new gennin joined the other two members of their team._

"_Ohayo, everyone, and welcome to Team 6!" said the instructor. He was a friendly-looking man, with cropped black hair, startling green eyes, and a mouth that looked as if it were made to smile. He wore the regular jounin uniform._

"_We'll be getting to know each other today. Why don't you introduce yourselves?"_

"_Sensei, it is always more polite to introduce yourself before asking someone else to!" claimed the final member of the team. He had orange hair, and eyes that were a shade of blue that was almost purple. He wore a teal t-shirt, a white armband on each arm. He wore grey shinobi pants that reach his ankles, offering a glimpse at the bandages hidden underneath, and blue shinobi sandals. His hitaite served as a belt, the cloth having a few pouches attached to it to hold extra equipment._

"_Fine then." Replied the sensei. 'Figures I had to receive the prodigies… Their manners are always too perfect for their own good.' "The name's Bokusou Sentai. I like jokes, people who tell good jokes, hard-workers, and sleeping in. I dislike perverts, such as Hatake Kakashi, missing-nin, and people who lack motivation and spirit. My hobbies are slaving away for my wife, reading, telling jokes, and, starting now, teaching you guys. I have already accomplished my dream of getting married to my dream girl. Okay… guy with the whiskers, it's your turn."_

_Naruto stood up, his back perfectly straight. He had a grin, in spite of his formal posture. He began to speak. "My name's Uzumaki Naruto! I like ramen, my Kitsune mask, people who don't judge by appearances, and my best friends! I dislike those who hurt my friends, mean people in general, when Hokage-ojiji reads his weird books, and falling over evil rocks." The rest of the team laughed at this. "My hobbies are training, eating ramen, watching the sunset from the Hokage monument, drawing, and hanging out with my friends. My dream is to be able to protect this village, but especially my friends." Naruto sat back down. Sentai nodded at the next gennin._

"_I am called Gogyou Youso. I, like Naruto, like my friends, along with the sea, my pet cat, Koori, and good stories. I dislike Megami's weird parents, nightmares, and people who underestimate me or my friends. My hobbies include reading, training, and writing stories. My dream is to invent at least fifteen jutsu." Youso sat back down._

_The next gennin, knowing what to do already, stood up. She had long brown hair tied into ponytails at either side of her head, with two short bangs framing her face. She wore elbow-length black fingerless gloves, a white short-sleeved cropped unbuttoned sweater, revealing a deep gold tank top underneath. She wore dark blue shinobi pants and black sandals. He hitaite was tied around her neck; the cloth had golden leaves dancing around the edges._

"_Hi! My name is Awai Megami! I like my friends, Naruto-kun and Youso-kun, my parents, animals, and music. I dislike people who judge others easily, lazy people, the color pink, and shrimp ramen, even though I like all other types of ramen. My hobbies are singing, playing musical instruments, playing hide and seek, and training. My dream is to show everyone that kunoichis are stronger than everyone thinks and to be the strongest kunoichi in the village!"_

'_Well, at the very least they're interesting. According to their files, they are the only three-man Anbu team that was extremely successful. Frankly, I think Megami's second dream is already complete, but I might as well not say anything. Seeing as they are childhood friends, their teamwork should be perfect. Apparently they were only assigned to the Academy to meet children their age, even though that quickly proved fruitless when they graduated together a month later. This should be fun.' thought the jounin sensei._

"_Sentai-sensei, what do we do now?" asked the blonde. He was dressed in a light red t-shirt, a dark red swirl in the middle. Bandages wrapped down his arms, showing only the tips of his fingers. He had a black armband on one armband on one arm, and wore a necklace with the kanji for Kitsune hanging from the chain. He wore knee-length shinobi pants and black shinobi sandals. His hitaite was on his forehead, shinning brightly in the sun. The border of the cloth had small red swirls embroidered into it._

"_Well, Naruto, we leave for now, and meet tomorrow to test your skills. Report here at 8 a.m. sharp tomorrow. Don't be late if you want to be treated to lunch afterwards!" the sensei finished jokingly.

* * *

_

Naruto felt a warm sensation on his knee, and looked to see a small trickle of blood running down his leg. He wiped it away, then stood up and continued his trick to the bridge, where he saw a pink-haired girl and black-haired boy waiting for him. The girl was desperately trying to talk to the blue-wearing shinobi, and was miserably failing. Naruto took a deep breath, then yelled out, "OHAYO, SAKURA-CHAN!!!"

"Naruto-baka, what took you so long? You're almost as late as Kakashi-sensei!"

"Hn. Dobe."

"Teme!" yelled Naruto, like every other day. It was a play; intricately laid out, it never changed, showing itself almost every morning.

'I miss Team 6… They always said hi to me…' thought Naruto, hiding his depressing thoughts under his smiling mask. He was actually lost in a memory.

* * *

_Naruto ran. He couldn't believe he was almost late! He hurried to the meeting spot at training are 27, glad to see he was two minutes later. He grinned, and waved at his friends, seeing them wave back._

"_Ohayo, Megami-chan, Youso-chan!" he said upon arriving._

"_Ohayo, Naruto-kun. Are you okay? You seem kind of worn out."_

"_Ohayo, Naruto. You're lucky; you made it right in time!" both of his friends smiled and greeted him. _

"_Yeah, it's just that there was a ramen sale last night, and when I got to Ichiraku's, the line was about two hours long! It was already-"_

"_Ohayo, guys! Ready to get to work?" greeted the sensei, appearing out of nowhere, and effectively ending one of his five-year-old charge's rambling._

"_Hai!" chorused his students, looking expectant. He noticed they all looked tired, but pushed aside his thoughts, knowing that they were often up all night on missions._

"_All right! Today we are going to climb every single mountain or hill in the village, without using our chakra! Let's go!" the sensei ran off, three young children chasing him.

* * *

_

"…Naruto? Naruto?"

"NARUTO-BAKA!!"

A sudden cry awakened Naruto. "Huh?" he said, his conscious still lingering on the memory.

"Dobe, Kakashi-sensei is here! We have to go clean the river again, then we have to do the laundry for the orphanage."

"What?! These missions suck!" exclaimed Naruto, acting as in character as he could. He had to act stupid; it was what people expected.

"Anyway, Naruto, let's go." Said the exasperated sensei, grabbing a book and walking off, seemingly absorbed into the words sprawled across the pages. His thoughts were actually much different.

'What's with Naruto? I've never seen him act like that before, like he was deep in thought. And that look on his eyes… Is there more to Naruto than I thought?'

A short distance behind, a certain Uchiha was having similar thoughts.

'That look he had… It's the one that only someone who has lost something or someone precious has. I wonder what happened to the dobe?'

Team 7 continued on to the river, determined to complete the job, like every other day, except that an orange-clad gennin wasn't in the lead, chattering incessantly. No, instead he walked slowly in the back, trying to avoid attention.

'It's always the same thing… Every day. Meet up, wait on Kakashi, exchanging insults and being ignored along the way, then either we go on a D-ranked mission, spar, or go back home. My old team had surprises, unlike this one…'

* * *

_Naruto woke up to a loud banging on his door._

"_Naruto-kun, wake up!" cried a female voice. Naruto checked his calendar; they had the day off from training, so what was Megami doing at his apartment so early in the morning? He sleepily opened the door, his sleeping hat still securely on his head. The rest of his team stood in the hallway, already dressed and grinning widely. His two friends gave him a quick group hug._

"_Can we come in?" asked Sentai._

"_Um, sure, come in. Sorry if its messy." replied Naruto, still confused about what was going on._

_Team 6 sat in Naruto's cramped living room, three of the members obviously excited about something._

"_So… Why are you guys here?" Naruto finally asked after a few minutes of tense silence._

"_We got our first team B-rank mission!" Youso blurted out._

"_Really?!" asked Naruto, now as excited as his team. He and his friends had been given a one-year break from the Anbu to fully experience life as a gennin. They hadn't had a high-ranked mission in months. Naruto hastily went into his room and got dressed. His team had taken over the main room when he returned. They were eating breakfast, which wasn't ramen for once._

"_So, when do we leave?" asked the blonde with a grin._

"_We leave in three hours. Pack enough to last a week. We're going to be escorting a man to the Waterfall country. He wanted protection because there was a band on shinobi after a legendary sword he has in his care. But don't worry, this is going to be a piece of cake. Meet at the gate a ten."_

"_Hai!" said the three friends together. They split up to get ready.

* * *

_

"Well, that's it for today. Great work team. Ja ne!" Kakashi disappeared, hiding in a nearby tree.

"Sasuke-kun, will you go on a date with me?" asked the fangirl.

"No. I hate you. I have to go now." Sasuke quickly left the group, heading towards the now-empty Uchiha compound.

"Sakura-chan-"Naruto began, but was quickly cut off.

"No. I don't want any ramen, especially with YOU!" the Haruno left Naruto alone.

The blonde immediately relaxed. He sensed a presence nearby, but decided it might be a patrolling Anbu, and walked off to the memorial stone.

'What is he doing?' thought a certain scarecrow, following him.

* * *

"_Okay, team, we are approaching the area with the highest risk now. Be on high alert, because you never now whe-"the sensei was cut of mid-sentenced by the arrival of ten missing-nin. They all appeared to be at least jounin level. Team 6 immediately sprung into action.

* * *

_

Naruto had arrived at the memorial stone. He crouched down by three particular names. He traced them with his finger.

"I'm sorry." He whispered, taking out a stick of incense and lighting it.

Kakashi jumped out of the trees.

"Naruto, are you okay?"

* * *

_Naruto took down two shinobi, then surveyed the rest of the scene. He grimaced when he saw the scene, tears falling down his cheeks silently. Megami was severely injured, blod seeping through her clothes from a wound in her gut. Youso stood in front, trying to protect her. Naruto saw an enemy approaching his friends, and started to run towards his friends. _

_But he was too late. He arrived in time to be covered in one of his best friend's blood as a sword stood out of his chest._

"_Naruto, Megami, you guys are the best. May you lead long lives, and know that I will always be watching you." His final words said, the red-head fell to the floor. Megami screamed, a torrent of tears falling from her eyes._

"_YOUSO!!!" yelled Naruto. He started to charge again, only to be stopped by three missing-nin. He struggled to get free; to rejoin his friends._

"_Come one now, gaki, I think you need to see this." One of the attackers hissed in his ear. Youso's murderer approached the brunette._

"_Megami!" cried Naruto._

"_It's alright, Naruto-kun. After all, I get to die by my friends; there's nothing better than that. Always remember me. And don't forget that Youso and I will be watching you, so you better not make too big of a fool of yourself!" cried Megami, before her head was brutally cut off. Naruto turned his head to see his the corpse of his sensei lying nearby and lost what was left of his self control._

'_NOOOOO!!!!!!" he yelled, red chakra enveloping him. He grabbed some kunai, hitting every missing-nin square in the chest, killing them instantly. He tried to calm himself down. An hour later, when he was no longer blinded with grief, he sealed his friends' bodies in some empty scrolls he had, tears forming rivulets across his face. The client offered to return to Konoha, and Naruto accepted. The pair returned to the village in a numb silence.

* * *

_

Naruto tensed, and looked right at Kakashi.

"I'm fine." he replied, his voice cracking.

The silver-haired jounin recognized the sadness in the boy's eyes; the vulnerability they held. He knew Naruto needed comfort, more now than ever. He sat down next to the blonde, letting him cry into his jounin vest. He looked at the names Naruto had been looking at and gasped; they were the members of the legendary Team 6. All senseis aimed to have a team as great as it.

"Was Naruto part of the team? But that would make him a young prodigy… This doesn't make sense… Maybe he was looking at other names?'

Naruto gradually ceased crying and carefully traced the names again.

"Today is the seven year anniversary… since that mission. The mission where I lost my best friends."

"Naruto…" 'So he is the last member...'

Naruto abruptly stood up and left. He left giving a grin and an exaggerated wave.

"Bye, Kakashi-sensei!" he cried, acting happy-go-lucky again.

'That's weird… He seemed depressed a minute ago. What cause the sudden change?" The Hatake gazed across the field and saw Team 10 approaching him. '…Sou ka.'

"Hey, Kakashi! Could you help Ino with this ninjutsu?" asked Asuma upon reaching Kakashi.

"Sure." he replied, "Follow me." The group left the memorial, the incense still burning, leaving wisps of scented smoke floating around in the air…

* * *

_Naruto was numb all over. He wished it wasn't true. A group was assembled, all of them wearing black. To his left was a couple with a three year-old; they all had brown hair, and the father had golden eyes. To his right was a very pregnant woman. She reassuringly grabbed his hand._

"_Don't worry, Naruto-kun, I'm sure they're happy. You should be happy. Besides, if you aren't whose supposed to tell the baby stories about his wayward father and his crazy team?" the woman asked, unfallen tears twinkling in her eyes. The boy nodded, and looked at the three coffins before him. One had teal daisies on it; the other had white lilies, and the last one had golden-tinted roses. Naruto gulped loudly. He knew funerals were hard, but he realized then that he didn't even know the beginning of the pain before this._

_After the funeral, the Sandaime walked over to him and handed him three katanas._

"_Here, Naruto… I thought you were the best person to keep these."_

_Naruto took the katanas with a nod, then walked home, his head hung low.

* * *

_

Naruto stood in a clearing, practicing with a gleaming katana. He had forged it out of his and his teammates' katanas. He practiced every day in their honor, showing them that he remembered them.

"I will get stronger…" he said between slashes. "I will get stronger, to fight for what could have been; what should have been…"

"… _Because, last time I wasn't strong enough, and I will never forgive myself for it."

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_

**A.N.:**

**Well, there ya go! Very angsty-ish; I almost cried while I was writing it!!! In any case, tell me what you think, and if you want a glossary. You can even make requests for other oneshots!!! Sorry for any mistakes... I you see any, could you please tell me? See ya!**

**(PS/ Random tidbit: yes, Naruto is an Anbu in this story, but it didn't really have a great importance in the plot, so I only breezed by it. The reason most of Team 6 managed to get killed was lack of practice, seeing as the gennin were off-duty as Anbu for the last few months... And no, their sensei wasn't an Anbu, before you ask!)**


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